Improvement in sewing-machines



C. F.- BOSWORTH;

ASewingMachine. Y Y

. Patented June 9, .1863.

6 @ffm N. PETERS, Photvumqnpiwr, wnmngton. n. C,

UNITED STATES PATENT CEETCE,

C. F. BOSWORTH, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT |N SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,807, dated June 9,1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, C. EBOSWORTH, ofthe city ot' New Haven, in the Stateof Connecticut, have invented certain new andvuseiul improvements to beused in combination with sewing-nmchines, whereby such machines arebetter adapted to the sewing of braid or plaiting or other narrow strips0f material, theimprovements being chiefly applicable'to stitchingtogether braids of straw, hair, chip, palmleat'. Src., in themanufactureofhats, caps, and bonnets.

These improvements are fully, clearly, and exactiy hereinafter describedin connection with the drawings, which make partotth description.

ln the drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of a4 sewing-machine withmy improvements attached. Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of theimprovement-s and certain parts of the sewing-machine. Figs.l3, 4, 5,and 6 are sketches exhibiting on a large scale the roller over which apiece of braid is to be fed, and illustrating some of the varieties'ofstitch that may be made by the use of my improvements.

Braids ot'straw, Src., are usually sewed t'ogether by hand. The stitchcommonly einployed is a long one and of such a character that little ornone of the thread appears upon what is usually termed the i right side,and sewing-machines withoutmyimprovements are practically useless forthe purpose, as all of them that I know of sew a seam showing upon theright side a thread reaching from needlepuncture to needle-puncture thewhole length of the seam.

My improvements are applicable under certain changes of form to most ifAnot all of the sewing-machines now in use and making ditferent varietiesof stitch, the precise method of contining the loops otupper threadpassed through the goods by an eye-pointed piercing needle beingimmaterial so far as the sewing of straw is concerned butl haveexperimented chieiiy upon shuttle-machines and reduced my invention topractice on such a machine, and have in the drawings shown myimprovements as applied to and acting in combination with a Singershuttlemachine with a transverse shuttle. These and othersewing-machines are so well known in the market and to manufacturers andworkmen that any detailed 'description of the construction or operationthereof is deemed unnecessary.

The nature ofmy invention consists, first, in the combination of arolleror its equivalent with the needle` of a sewing-machine and thefeeding apparatus thereof when the three are arranged and act incombination with each other, substantially as specitied; and, also, inthe combination, with. a sewing-machine needle and a roller orbending-surface, of a contrivance for guiding the needle itself at somepoints above the material being sewed, thus forcing the needle to piercea proper distance from the roller, as hereinafter set forth; and myinvention also consists in combining with equivalent for making a turnor bend in braid lto be sewed a vibrating needle-guide or properapparatus for vibrating a needle, the operation being to cause theneedle to pierce braid nearer to or farther from the surface of aroller.

In the drawings the iiy-.wheel of the machine is shown at a', theneedle-bar at a, the needle at g, the take-up apparatus at b', and thetable or surface upon which the goods to be sewed are supported at c',and the machine has a feed apparatus of any known kind, which is capableof advancin g braid, 85e., to be stitched between a presser-foot-such asb-and a table, and also a shuttle carrying a bobbin of second or underthread, colored blue in the drawings, so moved and operated as toconfine loops of needle-thread passed through braid by thepiercing-needle. The distinguishing peculiarity ofthe stitch made by theuse of my improvement is thisnamely, that the piercing-needle and thethread it carries enter a piece of braid from the side that is nearestto the other piece of braid to which it is to be sewed and leaves thatfirst piece of braid on the same side at which it entered. This is theleading idea on which my invention is based, and the improvements carrythis idea into practice. There is therefore atconvenient part of themachine a frame, c', which carries a roller, e, whose axis is at rightangles, or nearly so, with the line of progression of the cloth. Y

The upper of the two pieces of braid to be stiched together, 7c', passesover the roller, rthen under it, and thence over the other piece asewing-machine needle and a roller or its` tached to the presser-footbar or to some other I ofbraid, 7i', and th'e roller holds one piecedown upon theother. In order to keep the upper braid in positionsidewise, there is an adjustable gage, d., which may be attached to theframe c', and in order to make the upper braid apply itself closely tothe roller there is snpported in the frame or attached to thepresserfoot another bar or roller e, which rests upon the surface of thebraid. I prefer to attach this` bar to a slide, c', clasping thepresser-foot rod and adjustable thereon by a set-screw, so that the baror roller maybe set to adapt itself to different thicknesses of braid.

In order to guide the under piece of braid, there may be attached to thetable a guide, j. In sewing with the contrivance as thus far described asinglepiece of hraid or the braid on the edge ofa number ofpiecesalready stitched together is to be introduced under the presserfoot.(seeFig. 2,) and another piece of braid is to be passed under the bar e,and thence over and under roller c. If c be properly set with referenceto thel needle, it will pass into the upper braid, out of it again onthe same side that it entered, and thence through the lower one, (seeFig. 3,) and its thread may appear on the upper surface, as in Fig. G at1c; or if the braid be thick or the roller farther from the needle thethread may not appear at all on the upper surface, but assume'a positionas shown at w, Fig. 4;- and when the loop has been secured below thelower braid and the needle has risen out of both pieces then the feedwill advance both braids, and in so doing will carry the upper one overthe bending-roller, so that'it may be pierced at a different spot on thenext descent of the needle, the feed and roller by their conibinedaction presenting the upper braid properly. This operation would not,howcver, be as certain-as desirable, owing to the springing of theneedle. I therefore set the needle so that it will not pierce the upperpiece of braid at all unless it is bent or sprung over toward the rolleron its descent, and apply to the presserfoot or other convenient supporta guidesuch asfwhich springs the needle over toward the rol-ler when theneedle-point enters the guide. A bent piece of metal with a conical holein it, or a simple surface standing nearly upright, but inclining awayfrom the needle at its upper edge, answers the purpose well. The guideshown in the drawings has two surfaces meeting` at au angle or apex,through which the needle passes. By means of this addition the needle isforced to pierce in the desired line and the operation o t' sewing isrendered certain. The loops of needlethread passed through the lowerbraid are to bc confined by a shuttle-thread, as shown in Y thedrawings, or by a looped thread, as in the Grover 85 Baker stitchmachines, or by a loop of the upper thread, as in crochet-machines, andthe stitch is drawn tight when it has passed or j ust as it is passingaway from the roller.

As the seam is stronger when the needlethread shows on the uppersurface, and as it is desirable that it should show only at longintervals, farther apart than canl be conveniently fed or sewed inasewing-machinein the interval between one stitch and another, 1 havedevised a contrivance by the use of which some of the stitches will bemade in the lower braid only. ln order to do this, the needle is set, asbefore, and the guide is mounted upon a spring-arm, which tends to pressit toward the roller c, while an adjustable stop, r(see Fig. 1.)regulates the distance to which it shall approach the roller.

Upon the presser-foot bar there is mounted, so that it can turn, anirregularly-polygonal plate, 1)having secured to it a ratchet-wheel, n,provided with a detaning-pawl, if necessary, as at 0, and with anactuating-pawlsuch as 'i--pivoted to a crooked bar,h, which is pivotedon the presser-foot. A pin, s, is attached to the needle-bar, and thecrooked bar and pin are so arranged relatively to each other that eachstroke of the bar shall reciprocate the pawl, and consequently turn theirregular plate which bears agaiustthe. springsupport of the guide. .Byshaping this pla-te properly the needle can be caused to pierce theupper piece of braid at every other stitch,

or every second, third, or fourth, or greater number of stitches, asdesired, so that seams may be sewed like those in Fig. 5 or (i, orbyproper shape and adjustment ot' the parts seams may be scwed where theupper thread shows at intervals on the upper surface of the upper braid,and at other times merely catches into the upper braid; or scams may besewed having some stitches showing in the upper surface of the4 upper4braid, others catching into it and not showing, and others still whichdo not touch the upper braid at all. In sewing such seams the needlesprings away from the roller, and is drawn towardit at the timean'd tothe extent desired by the spring-guide, the latter being governed by theirregularly-shaped plate. The whole contrivance therefore is one forvibrating the needle to and fro in the direction of theline of theseam,and any contrivance that will so cause the needle to vibrate as topierce or not pierce the upper braid, as desired, may be substituted forthe apparatus specially described. Where a vibrating needle as thusdescribed is used the feed apparatus feeds both the upper braid and thematerial to which it is to be stitched, as before stated, and presentsboth braids in such manner by the aid of the roller that the needle maypuncture either both `braids or one braid only, depending upon thelinein which the needle descends.

The roller c may revolve orbe stationary. I preferthat it shouldrevolve; and thebar c and guide d may be dispensed with, and the braidbe kept in position by the lingers, the gist of the invention being tohold one piece of braid in reference to thel braid or other materialonto which it is to be stitched, and in reference tol the needle in suchmanner that the needle shall enter and leave the upper braid on the sameside thereof, and shall afterward pierce 35,801 A y fi the lower braidor piece of stuft' to which the upper braid is to be sewed. As beforestated, any proper feedingapparatus may be used; but 1 preferthatcommonly known as the fourinotion roughened surface-feed,77 or elsethe wheel-feed. f

As the braids to be sewed together are sometimes of considerablethickness, and as one lies on top of the other, the uppermost braid willbe held slightly above the table or platform of the machine. An ordinaryfeeding-bar will therefore act most eifectually it' not entirely onthelowermost braid; but as the sewing, owing to the great length of thestitches, will be better if the feeding device acts equally on bothbraids, I intend sometimes to useindependent feeds-one adjusted for eachbraid-and when using a four-motion feed to split the feedingbar at orabout the line of junction of the braids, thus making two feeding-bars,and to apply a set-screw or some equivalent device, so that the two barsmay have their relative height or levels adjustable the one to theother, thus causing that bar which acts upon the uppermost braid to workat the highest level, s0 that this braid maybe as effectively fed as thelower one. 'ln sewing hat-brinis and other curved work one braid-thatnearest the center of the hat-must of necessity move through a lessdistance than the other; andin order to make the feed adapt itself toboth., so as not to wrinkle either, and in order, also, to regulate thecurvature of the seam, I intend to make one feed move at each stitchthrough a greater distance than the other does. This object may beattained most easily by advancing two feeding-bars by the same cam, andby regulating their retreating motion by separate stops, one

or both 0f which may be adjustable and acting .like the adjustablefeed-regulators well known to constructors of sewing-machines.

I do not claim a vibrating needle simply, nor a guide for a needle, norrollers or bars or guides for cloth or braid by themselves, or out ofthe combination in which-I employ them so as to produce thel desiredeffect; but

I do claim as of my own invention- I. The combination, of asewing-machine needle with a roller or its equivalent and with a feedapparatus or mechanism. when theneedle and roller are so arrangedrelatively to each other that braid can be sewed by a needie piercingand leaving the braid or other material on lthe same side-thereof, thecombination being substantially such as described.

2. In combination, a sewing-machine needle, a roller or its equivalent,around which braid 'can be bent, and av needle-guidethe three ybev ingarranged and acting incombination, substantially as specified. i

3. AA vibrating. sewing-machine needle, or a :sewing-machine needlecaused to vibrate -by proper mechanism, substantially as specified, incombination with a roller around which braid can be bent or turned, andany appropriate feed apparatus, the mode of operation of the combinationbeing substantially such as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name on this 8th dayof August, A. D. 1861.

e.. F. BoswoRrH.

In presencegofy HORACE H. UHITTENDEN, J. H. STARKWEATHER.

